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Frederick CC Moves to Debit Card Refunds

By Dian Schaffhauser

07/19/11

Frederick Community College, a two-year college in Maryland with about 6,300 students, has begun implementing a new refund disbursement system from Higher One. Starting in June, all students began receiving MasterCard debit cards to facilitate refunds through Higher One's OneDisburse Refund Management service. The card is sent to the student whether or not he or she expects a refund from the college.

The student can specify whether the refund goes into a OneAccount account, in which case the money is available the same day the college has released the funds to Higher One; or whether the funds will be transferred to another bank, which adds two or three business days to the transaction. The myFCC eFunds card can be used for purchases at merchants that accept debit MasterCards and can also be used to pay bills or get cash at ATMs, among other services. When a deposit has been made by the campus, the student receives an e-mail message.

The OneAccount account, a standard checking account, has no minimum balance nor monthly checking fee. However, the banking service does charge fees for other kinds of transactions, such as going nine months with no transaction on an account with a balance, doing a withdrawal from a non-Higher One ATM, or replacing the card.

Previously, refunds were issued by Frederick CC via paper check, which is "a long and time consuming process," said Deborah Judd, the college's associate vice president of fiscal and auxiliary service. "We wanted to find a way to more efficiently process refunds as well as get students their money quicker."

She added that Higher One was chosen because it had a "proven track record of providing this service."